Can't Stop the World
by LSiri
Summary: Four months after Sookie Stackhouse joins forces with the vampires of Area Five, and finds love in the arms of audacious Sheriff Eric Northman, she finds that life in her small town still isn't as quiet as it seems. Murder is back on the table, and even with the help of her vamp cousin Hadley, there's an even bigger mystery waiting for her in Dallas... Sequel to Second Chances.
1. Chapter 1- Bringing on the Madness

**Chapter One- Bringing on the Madness**

Andy Bellefluer was drunk. Word slurring, foot stumbling, cross-eyed drunk. And unlike most of the rest of Renard County Parish where Andy is a detective, I knew the reason why. Intimately. Ever since my cousin Hadley had made her undead reappearance in Bon Temps, the good ol' detective Andy Bellefluer had been having issues staying sober. Tonight was no exception.

Merlotte's, the bar where I work, was dead except for Andy and I, and my boss Sam, who was in the back tallying up tonight's profits. It was a Monday, so it was a slow night, but that hadn't stopped Andy from hitting the sauce. Hard. It was close to one, and Andy was close to unconscious.

"How's your cousin?" he slurred as I stepped past with my tray full of salt and pepper caddies. Once upon a time, Andy had been madly in love with Hadley. Not madly enough to defy his grandmother's iron fist, however. Still, I felt bad for the poor guy. I'd spent the last four months listening in on his depressive regrets, after all.

See, I'm a telepath, Hadley's a vampire, and Andy's one loud broadcaster when he's drunk.

"She's just fine, Andy," I said gently. It hadn't escaped my attention that he was just a little bit more drunk this evening then he had been all the other nights of the past week combined. I had to wonder at that.

Ever since I'd started my other job working for my boyfriend, Eric Northman, the vampire sheriff of Area Five, which included my little hometown of Bon Temps, I'd been using my mental abilities more and more frequently. For years I had seen my telepathy as a handicap, something that made me different, something to be hidden at all costs. Eric had recently convinced me otherwise, encouraging me to see my telepathy as a gift. As an asset even.

Despite my new job and responsibilities, I still tried to keep a hold on digging in people's private thoughts if I could help it. But this was... personal, I decided. My cousin Hadley being involved made it so. So as I settled up my tables with the fresh caddies, I did something I had no business doing: I dropped my shields and used my telepathy directly.

I was instantly sorry I had. It seemed Andy had arrested a man for kidnapping and raping his little girl neighbor. And it wasn't just the little girl Andy was fretting over. It seemed Hadley had made the decision to share our Uncle Bartlett's wandering hands with Andy back when they'd been a couple, and now that he'd seen the damage up front, he was having trouble getting the images out of his brain. I could feel a darkness spreading through me at the thought, and it was all I could do to keep my hands from shaking as I poured Andy another Jim Bean and Coke.

"Your keys, Andy," I said, offering the drink up in exchange. My eyelashes were damp off second-hand memories, and I blinked rapidly to clear my eyes. I waited a long moment as Andy processed what I was asking for, finally rummaging in his khakis for his large keychain and setting it in my waiting palm. I walked directly over to the phone and dialed a number I'd come to memorize in the past four months.

"Portia," I said into the phone after the fourth ring.

"Yes?" came the genteel voice on the other end of the line.

"Andy's here, and he's had a bit much to drink," I said apologetically.

"Again?" she sighed. "I don't know what's got into him."

I did, but I wisely chose to keep silent. Instead, I twisted my index finger in the cord of the phone as I waited for her response. She sighed again, then relented.

"Alright, then. I'll come get him. Thanks, Sookie."

"Sure thing, Portia."

As I was hanging up, I felt a rush of warmth coursing through my blood. I turned, half expecting to see Eric, but I knew I had a bit of a wait to go yet. It had been four months since we'd started dating, four wonderful, crazy months, and I still hadn't gotten used to the feeling of our blood bond, of the happy rush I got every time he came near. Would I ever get used to this love I felt for him? I gave a bit of sigh as I went back to my cleaning, hoping the last few minutes would pass quickly.

Andy was searching the bottom of his drink for more alcohol as I wiped the bar top down, and I prayed he wouldn't ask me for another. It would be hard enough on Portia getting him into the house as it was.

"Where's... your sheriff?"

"I am right here."

"Ah..." Andy slurred. "Vampire Eric!"

I felt my pulse ratchet up a couple notches as Eric came to a stop several feet from the bar. His long blond hair was tousled and windblown back from his fallen angel face, blue eyes dark in the dim light of the bar. I grinned at him as I finished washing out Andy's glass, picturing him speeding down the road in his corvette, or better yet, flying all the way from Shreveport sans car.

"Hi," I said as I dried my hands on the bar towel.

"Hi," he grinned back.

Four months, I reminded myself as my heart jumped again. Surely at some point we were going to get over this honeymoon phase?

"You know...," Andy mused, interrupting my musing. "You're not so bad for a vamp. Caught us a serial killer, didn't ya?"

Eric raised an eyebrow in my direction and I shook my head, mouthing "I'll tell you later," at him. He nodded and gave the detective a once over before shaking his head once more.

Sam came out of the back then, and spotting Eric, gave him a brisk nod. Things between the two would never be downright friendly, that was for sure, but at least they'd taken a turn for the civil.

"Northman," Sam said as he took my final sales report for the night and punched it into the register.

"Merlotte," came Eric's even reply.

"I called Portia," I whispered to Sam as he rang in my numbers.

"Good," he murmured back. "I'm almost starting to feel like we've got another Bodehouse on our hands."

I hesitated, then shook my head.

"He's just going through... a lot right now."

"You would know better than anyone, Sook," Sam said as he finished punching me out. I took off my apron, carefully tucking my money pouch into my shorts along with my phone.

"I would at that," I said ruefully. "You want me to wait with him...?"

"No, you go on ahead with Eric. I'll stay and make sure Portia gets him into the car alright."

"Thanks, Sam," I said, leaning over to brush his cheek with a kiss. I could feel Eric's swell of disapproval, and Sam's swell of shock, but I ignored them both for my own nature. I grabbed my keys off the shelf by the register and turned and made my way to Eric, ignoring his scowling face. Tucking my arm through his, I began tugging him towards the door.

"Night's not getting any younger, tall stuff," I said cheerfully as I dragged him out the door.

"So... the detective?" Eric asked as we walked out into the cool night. Fall was coming, more quickly than not it seemed. The air was crisp, and I had a vague thought about putting the hard top on the Jeep tomorrow.

"He's having trouble adjusting to Hadley's reappearance. He's been a borderline drunk pretty much every night for the past few months, but today a child rapist pushed him over the edge."

"It is a good reason to take up drinking," he agreed darkly, and I could feel his emotions boiling in a familiar way as I tossed him my keys and we got into my Jeep. Seems the corvette had stayed in Shreveport this evening.

I had never asked Eric exactly what he had done to my Uncle Bartlett, but shortly after I had confessed what my uncle had done to my cousin Hadley and I all those years ago, he had ended up institutionalized in the state hospital in Shreveport. Eric assured me he receives the most minimal care possible under the law. I'm more than a little okay with that bit of justice.

We were near halfway to Shreveport before the night got considerably more complicated.

"I do not like your familiarity with the shifter," Eric said out of the blue.

"What?" I said, startled. "Are you serious, Eric? Sam and I are friends. Nothing more."

"I still do not like it," he said haughtily.

I was starting to get right pissed. I turned sideways in my seat to stare at him, lifting my hand off of his thigh where it had been resting.

"I don't really care if you don't like it. And honest, Eric, I can't understand, after everything we've been through together, how you can even see it as a problem!"

"The shifter has feelings for you. It is obvious if you were paying any attention."

I tossed my hands into the air.

"Well if YOU would pay attention you would see all my attentions are fixed rightly on you!"

"That does not change _his_ attentions. You will desist in your attentions towards him."

That did it.

"And you will pull this car over. Right this minute!"

He pulled over. I got out and started walking.

I half expected Eric to follow me, but he didn't; he was as stubborn as I ever was. I had no idea where I was going, but I was fuming. Eric was still sitting in my Jeep. I glanced back once, but I couldn't see him over the headlights, and I had to resist sticking my tongue out at him. That would have been childish.

But oh, was I feeling some type of way at the moment.

I'd been walking for about five minutes when I remembered I had my cell phone in my pocket. I got it out and started flipping through my short list of numbers. I ignored Arlene's; she and I were on shaky ground since Rene had tried to kill me, and while I know she would have driven to get me right away, I didn't want her to have to rile up the kids. That left Jason and Hadley, and as I didn't feel like dealing with any vampires at the moment, that left Jason. I was just about to dial his number when I heard a sound, a snuffling sort of noise coming from behind me.

"Hello?" I called out uncertainly. "Eric, if that's you, it's not funny."

I noticed the hog first. It was rooting around on the ground, searching the earth like it was digging for truffles. And then she stepped out of the shadows, and I couldn't notice anything else.

She was stunningly beautiful, I caught that first off. Her eyes were bright in the moonlight, the color of fresh tilled earth. And her face, her face was proud, timeless, carved out of some piece of forgotten marble. There was a wildness to her, from her muddy, wood torn clothes, to her tangled hair. Leaves dangled from her brown locks, pieces of twigs twisted up in it like she'd been rolling in forest rubble. I tried listening in on her, but where she stood there was a strange roiling static that had me taking a few steps back.

"Who are you?" I asked, and if my voice trembled, it could have been for the fact that I was alone, in the middle of nowhere, with a creature that had all of my supernatural senses screaming. She ignored the question, absently scratching the neck of the razorback at her side.

"You'll do," she said instead in a sing-song sort of tone, glancing me over like I was a piece a steak she might be considering for a Sunday dinner. "Better than most, really."

"Do for what?" I asked, confused. I could feel my heart kick it up a notch. She was getting closer, and I could see that her mouth was stained crimson around the edges, and that there were bits stuck in her teeth. Whatever she had been munching on, it sure hadn't been cooked.

"I hope you don't mind me being a bit nosy and all, but what are you?" I asked her, smiling my nervous kooky smile.

"Oh, not at all. I'm a maenad." From what I could recall, maenads were Greek, and from all appearances, women of the wild.

"Alright," I said. I hesitated, then asked, "And you're out here tonight because...?"

"I need you to take a message for me, to your companion."

"To Eric?" I asked, surprised that this strange creature would know him. It occurred to me suddenly that our fight might not have been a coincidence, and that it was awful convenient that this... creature was just standing here waiting for me in the middle of nowhere.

The creature in question just smiled, and took a step towards me.

That was all it took. I whipped around and started running, my heart thump-thump-thumping in my chest. I knew, I just knew, that if she caught me, something awful was going to happen.

She caught me. Something like razorblades sliced across my back, and I screamed, and it was one name, the only name I ever wanted to say.

"Eric!"

I must have passed out, because when I came to, Eric and I were pulling into the Fangtasia parking lot. I saw him turn off the engine to the Beast, and then he came flashing around to lift me out of the Jeep. I gave a little scream as the jarring motion pulled at the flayed skin of my back. Eric didn't say anything, but I could feel him panicking through our blood bond. He used his foot to kick at the back door to the club, and I trembled with every motion.

"Well what happened to her?" Pam asked, hands on her hips as she flung open the door. Eric didn't say anything at first, just charged past her towards his office. Pam followed on his heels, and her girlfriend, and my cousin, was quick to clue in to my condition.

"Sook!"

Hadley came running up, running her hands over my hair. I let out a small scream, and she jumped back. Tears were streaming down my face at this point, and it was all I could do not to vomit all over Eric.

"She was attacked on the side of the road," Eric said finally as he settled me face down on his couch. I could feel his panic through our blood bond, and it wasn't helping.

"And how did that happen?"

There was a long moment of silence, and then, "We got into a... disagreement."

"Eric, honey..." I gritted out. "Could we NOT do this right now?"

"You are right. Pamela, get the doctor on the phone."

He leaned down over me and smoothed my hair back from my face, and it was all I could do not to shriek in pain.

"What happened?" he asked gently. He was sending waves of calm through the blood bond, but I could still feel his distress.

"Go to hell," I said immediately on reflex, more than anything else.

He sighed.

"Sookie... I need to know, so we can help you."

"A woman, with a pig," I managed. "A razorback. She said she was a maenad. And she said I was... a message for you, Eric."

He frowned, and rocked back on his heels, before glancing over at Pam.

"A maenad?" he murmured. "In Bon Temps?"

"Apparently," she agreed. "Though what drew her here..."

"We will deal with her after."

"You know," I managed to get out, "I'm not above blaming you for this."

"It is entirely my fault, my heart," Eric agreed in a reasonable sort of tone. I heard Pam make a muffled sort of sound, and Hadley shush her.

"I'm pretty sure she made us fight, though." He made a slight "hmm," sound in his throat, and I swallowed hard.

"Eric, can you move my hair? It's... it's getting stuck." I could feel the blood congealing on my back, and had to bite my lip as he pulled the strands out of my wound and brushed them over my shoulder. A thought occurred to me as I tried to hold back a fresh flood of tears.

"Are we... are we going to war?" I asked.

"With the maenad?" Eric asked in surprise. "Not exactly."

"Well, what, exactly, did she want?"

"She wants tribute."

"Tribute?" I managed.

"Maenads bring madness, my Sookie. The only way to avoid the chaos is to appease them by giving them tribute."

"I'd like to give her something," I muttered pissily.

It seemed an eternity passed before I heard the back door slam, and then a strange, small person came trotting into Eric's office, a large, old fashioned doctor's bag hitched up over short arm. She was certainly no higher than my hip standing, wearing a white doctor's tunic and pants. She looked like a tiny, competent dwarf, with glasses perched on the edge of a smashed up looking nose.

"Northman," she grunted out. "What seems to be the problem?"

"My companion was attacked by a maenad. I need you to see to her."

I could feel Eric calming through our blood bond now that the doctor had arrived, and I took comfort in that.

"What kind of doctor are you?" I asked as she looked me over.

"The healing kind," she grunted, and I took that as a sign that I should keep quiet as she worked.

"She's been poisoned," she said finally.

"Well what can be done about it?" I could actually hear the irritation in Eric's voice. That alone was enough to make me smile through the pain. Eric never lost his cool in business dealings. Never.

"Eric," I managed.

"Yes, dear one?" he murmured.

"I love you."

He didn't say anything, but I could feel his emotions sweeping through the bond.

I was beginning to lose touch with reality.

"We need to drain her, and replace her blood," I was vaguely aware of someone saying. "Too much for anyone of you, and the poison will affect you."

"Will it save her?"

"Chances are."

"We'll need Chow for this, then."

"I'll get him," I heard Hadley say.

I felt my shirt tear, and saw the doctor come close again.

"Am I gonna die?" I asked the strange dwarf lady. She let out a sharp barking sound.

"Yes, and soon."

"Well then," I grounded out. I felt her touch my wound and let out a loud shriek. I couldn't help it; it was the most excruciating pain I had ever experienced, and I was rapidly expecting, the worst I ever would.

"Hadley," I got out. The world around me was starting to go hazy, all strange shades of yellow.

I could see her now, and Chow, too. All the vampires were in the room, hovering closer and closer to me as I started to die.

"Tell Gran I love her. Jason, too."

I heard Hadley make a small crying sound, and Pam shushing her gently.

"My Sookie," I heard Eric say. I vaguely realized he was bending down in front of me again, and I saw that he was smiling. Why on earth would he be smiling at a time like this?

"Someone had better start," I heard Pam drawl. "She's changing colors." I felt someone take my arm, then the sharp bite of fangs. I barely even registered the small pain.

And then, I was sure I must have been hallucinating, I saw my overly obnoxious Viking wink just before I winked out.

* * *

Author's Note: Welcome back to the world of Second Chances! I finally decided it was time to give this another go, as I missed my characters. Pretty much, if you're just getting here, this is an alternate world of the SSN that exists sans Bill. That's right, the right bastard never showed, never let Sook get beat, never ruined her self esteem, just never was. If you're reading this without having read Second Chances, I suggest you start there, but it's not strictly necessary. Basically all you need to know is that Hadley was turned by Pam, not Queen Sophie Anne, and Gran lived. I will be updating every Tuesday, if I can keep up with it, and possibly earlier if I can. As Second Chances followed the plot of Dead to the World, the first SSN, Can't Stop the World will follow the plot of the second SSN, Living Dead in Dallas. Enjoy, and as always, reviews make my heart sing!

Cheers!

Laura


	2. Chapter 2- There Goes the Way of Secrets

**Chapter Two- There Goes the Way of Secrets**

When I woke I was alone, and my internal alarm clock was screaming early a.m., pre-sunrise; a glance at the clock confirmed it. Four a.m. Hardly any time had even passed at all, to my shock. Eric wasn't in the bedroom, and I was naked, which was an even stranger turn of events. Usually if I was in bed, and naked, he was wrapped around me, and as equally naked. I could feel him in the house via the blood bond, but I didn't immediately search him out. I wanted to check something first, to see just how much damage the wicked maenad had done...

I headed to the adjoining bathroom to Eric's and my bedroom, and twisted around in the mirror to catch sight of my back, searching for sight of the slices that would surely still be there. My flesh was clean, though, bare of all scars. Pure, white flesh, untouched, as if I had never lain on the side of the road, had never been poisoned, never nearly died yet again. Vampires. Lordy lordy.

I sighed and twisted back around, pressing my palms flat against the countertop, staring down at the tops of my hands. It was the luminosity of my skin that caught me then. For a few seconds it didn't quite sink in, the sheer unnatural beauty of my mere skin, and then I had an epiphany moment and my head shot up like a bullet out a twelve gauge.

I stared at myself in the mirror for a long moment, and for the first time since meeting the vampires realized that I might have gone beyond secret keeping. There was no way I was going to be able to write off the changes in the mirror as good "vitamins" anymore. My flesh was unnaturally radiant, a pure, creamy lusciousness that looked as if it had been painted on canvas rather than born of any mortal. My blond hair was like spun gold floating around my head, teasing the air with a wealth of rich silk until it hit the middle of my back. My eyes glowed, two bright oceanic orbs no man could surely call a color to name.

"I am in so much trouble," I watched the strange, beautiful woman say.

I raced out of the bathroom in search of Eric, practically screaming his name as I flung my naked body down the stairs. I collided with him mid-living room mid-panic, wrapping my arms around him in a desperate attempt to stem off the vision I had seen in the mirror.

"Eric," I sobbed. "Eric, it's just plain awful!"

"What is, dear heart?" he said gently, running his large palm in calming circles around my naked spine. I could feel him sending waves of calm through the blood bond, trying to take me off the edge.

For once, it didn't stop my panic.

"My face!"

He pulled back from me then, and stared down into my eyes, and I saw the hunger flare in him, the flash-fire rush that shot through our blood bond and into me.

"No, Eric!" I ordered. "Don't you even think about it! This is serious business! Look at me, really look at me, and tell me what I'm supposed to do!"

He made one more move to come in for me and I shoved him away with more than a little vamp strength, my naked breasts swaying between us. I could feel his eyes following them greedily, and nearly slapped him for it.

"I'm damned serious, now! Focus! What am I supposed to do, Eric? I can't just hide away in my house. I mean, how long does it take for this to wear off?"

He seemed to hear me that time, and his eyes rose to meet mine. He searched my face over, and I felt the swell of pride tinged with regret running through our blood bond. It seemed someone else wasn't too sure about it, either, and it reassured me that Eric was going to miss my original face just as much as I was.

"It doesn't ever really wear off. Not... completely," he said cautiously, eyes still skimming over my skin.

"So what... I'm like, super knockout beautiful for the rest of my life? That's real inconvenient, Eric!"

"If anyone asks, tell them I had you fly out to Hollywood for the works."

I folded my arms over my heaving chest and glared at him.

"The works?" I drawled dryly.

"People will believe just about anything you tell them, my Sookie, before believing in magick. Soon enough, they will forget you ever looked anyway but the way you look now. But this may cause... other problems."

"What kind of other problems?" I demanded.

"Other vampires will be more attracted to you now. I knew it was a possibility when we transfused you, but I could not risk your life over the inconvenience. I can control the vampires in my area, but as my human, and as my asset, we may not always be in my area. I can only hope the immediate effect wears off before I am called to use your services outside Area Five."

"You've told others about me?" I was both flattered and outraged at the idea.

"Word spreads, my Sookie. You are a valuable commodity. The werewolves know. Longshadow knew. There are younger vamps who know who have allegiances in other areas as well, to their makers. Vampire politics are complicated and multifaceted."

"So I'm beginning to understand," I muttered mulishly.

I shivered then, and Eric immediately noticed and tugged me flush to his body. He was wearing only a pair of jeans, and his pale bare chest was tinged pink off my blood, I assumed. He was slightly warmer than the room, and I let myself be sheltered by his form. From past experience I knew that his assurances that he would care for me were more than just boasts. I was still wired up like a Christmas tree, but I knew, deep in my heart, that Eric would never let anything happen to me, and that was more than enough.

"I will protect you, my heart. Not to worry."

Without a doubt, I believed him. He was my vampire Viking, my gallant killer, my nighttime hero. What harm could come to me with him at my side?

"I am sorry, my Sookie," he murmured then, running his fingers down my cheek until he could cup my chin in his oversized palm. "I should never have let you get out of the Jeep."

"Eric honey," I said gently, covering his hand with mine and staring up into his fallen angel face. "You and yours just saved my life. Again."

"But if it were not for our argument-"

"She would have found a way to get to me one way or another, anyhow. And weren't you the one who told me she 'Brings the madness?' I'm real certain she was the reason we were fighting to begin with."

I felt a strong wave of guilt through our blood bond, and his eyes dropped from mine.

"I am... jealous of the shifter," he admitted reluctantly.

"Hey now," I said, threading my fingers through his. "Look at me." When his too blue eyes met mine I gave him a warm and gentle smile.

"You wouldn't be male if you weren't, but there's nothing there, I promise you that. I'm yours, remember?"

"As I am yours," he murmured back to me, before ducking down for a soft kiss.

His warm lips were full and patient on mine, and I sighed into them as I stretched up on my tippie-toes to make time with his delicious mouth. I could feel him growing hard and aroused through the blood bond again, and it didn't take much influence to grow aroused back. His fingers slid down my back, past the crack of my bottom, working a gentle rhythm as he slid two fingers into me. I came almost instantly, but it was gentle, as if my body was working me up to the hard stuff. Eric pulled his fingers out and I pulled back to stare up at him. His wicked tongue came out and licked first one, then the other finger clean.

"Mr. Northman," I said almost shyly, sliding my hand down between our bodies to slide his zipper down. "I feel a pressing urge to be pressed against this wall."

"Which wall?" he all but growled, backing me up across the living room until my back hit the wall.

"This wall?"

"This very one," I said on a naughty nod and he nearly ripped his pants down around his thighs.

With one arm he lifted me up and spun me around so that my breasts were pressed flush to the wall, his other hand spreading me and holding me open so he could slide inside, and suddenly I wasn't feeling so gentle anymore. He was warm, and I was wet, and his lips were pressed to my ear hard enough that I could feel his fangs. He began pounding into me and I nearly wept for it. His words were dark like chocolate kisses as he beat into me, promises of wicked things that he would do to me in darker hours than these.

"You know, Miss Stackhouse, what I fantasize about doing to this virgin bottom of yours?"

My heart rate sped up, because I had a very good idea, and considering all the other dark and bloody things we had done in the night, that was one thing we had not yet done, and I, too, had thought about doing. My breathing hitched, and I know he could feel my jump in arousal through the blood bond.

"Oh, you would like that, would you, dear heart? Shall I promise you then, one of these nights, when you least expect it, to moisten you up, and take you in that final way? So that then I shall have had you in every way."

With every word his thrusts grew harder, and his fangs slid down the side of my neck, nicking my flesh until I felt the trickle of my blood trailing down my shoulder.

"Answer me," he demanded, on a particularly brutal thrust.

"Yes," I hissed back at him.

"Yes what?" he demanded again.

"Yes I want you to!"

He bit me then, and I came on the pleasure of it, the rush of my blood pulsing out of my heart onto the velvet softness of his tongue, the last pounding thrusts of his dick into my aching body, and then his mouth tore free and I came again as he saturated himself into my weeping body.

We ended up in bed after a shower, and the bites on my neck had already healed themselves. Score one for excess vamp juice. Eric was feeling the press of daylight by this point, and I had about two hours of sleep available to me before I had to be at Merlotte's for my morning shift at nine. I'd done it on V-Juice before, and I knew it wouldn't be any trouble at all; if anything, I'd be raring to go all day. But I was terrified of what was waiting for me, and I told Eric so.

"Eric," I said, tightening my grip on his slowly cooling body. "I'm scared."

"I know you are, dear heart," he said sleepily. "But I will be here for you. Until the end of my forever nights."

And on that note, and I felt him will me to sleep through the blood bond, a trick I was totally going to punish him for tomorrow.

If he didn't punish me first.

* * *

I woke at 7:30, early enough to brush my hair and dress in my uniform, with plenty enough time to get to work. I wasn't feeling very hungry, an aftereffect of the V-juice, so I skipped breakfast asides for taking my multivitamin and iron supplement for the day with a bit of orange juice. I did, however, stare at myself extra long in the mirror, still in shock over what I saw there, but there was no changing it. I was stuck with what was, and truth be told I should just be glad I was alive. And I was.

I just wish the cost hadn't been quite so high.

I got to work with plenty of time to unlock the front with the key that Sam had leant me for just such mornings. Andy's car was still parked where it had been last night, and I figured on him picking it up sometime later today, after the Jim Bean wore off. I had expected Lafayette Reynold, Merlotte's flamboyant cook, to be there waiting outside, smoking one of his thin Black and Mild cigars, but he wasn't yet. Truth be told I was rather grateful, as it gave me a few more minutes reprieve before the questions would start, so I shrugged it off and went in and flipped on all the lights. Then I headed back to the cooler and pulled out the lemons and the limes to slice up for the morning shift.

Arlene was in not ten minutes later, and she stopped dead in her tracks on seeing me, apron dropped half mast in her hand, purse slack in her other.

"Sookie, what in god's name done and happened to you?" she blurted out in a long rush.

I sighed and kept slicing lemons, thinking hard on how all the v-juice flowing through my veins was for life saving purposes. From that thought to the next, the lemon I had just started on was sliced to a finish, and I realized I had another problem: vamp speed.

This was so not gonna be my day.

"I had a spa day," I lied sweetly as I picked up the next lemon.

My voice seemed to jar Arlene into action, and she came cautiously behind the bar as I carefully sliced the lemon with extra slow hands. I watched out of the corner of my eye as she tucked her purse under the register next to mine, tying on her apron as she gave me the big hairy eyeball.

"A spa day, you say?"

"The works," I murmured as I tucked the lemon slices into the bar dish with a deliberately slow hand. "Eric flew this specialist in from Hollywood as a surprise present."

My heart was racing, my body was shaking. I could feel Arlene staring at me, searching my face and body for some clue as to whether I was lying or not. Could I pull this off, hiding my secrets like this for the sake of my vampire loves?

Damn right I could.

I fluffed my golden hair on pretended affront, doing my best to look pained.

"You... You don't like it?" I asked softly, doing my best to play it up. I had best learn this lie fast, because I was going to be telling it all day.

"No no!" she assured me hastily. "You look real real pretty! Beautiful!"

I gave her a bright smile, and could see her blink. Maybe I had a little glamour of my own. I decided to give it a try.

"They told me they could only really approve a little on what was already there, and I agree. I've always looked pretty much like this. Don'tcha say?"

"Yes," she murmured, seeming a little dazed. "You've always looked pretty much like this."

I was starting to scare myself a little, but there wasn't much I wouldn't do for Eric and his ilk.

Sam came in then, took one look at me, and dropped the box he'd been carrying. I heard the crash of barware and sighed silently to myself. So much for certain people not noticing much. I saw his mouth drop open and I glanced deliberately to Arlene, begging him not to say anything. He jerked his head back to his office and I nodded.

"Now Sam Merlotte!" Arlene shooed. "Look what you've gone and done!"

"Looks like I'm all thumbs this morning," he said, eyes glued on my face. I rushed past him, listening to Arlene fussing over the broken glass as she went to the storage closet to get a broom.

"Sook and I are just going to go have a talk about her schedule, alright?" I heard him say clear as a bell from the back of the restaurant.

"Sure thing, then," came her just as clear reply.

Sam didn't waste any time getting to his office, and I stood awkwardly staring at him, waiting for what I knew was coming. I offered him the keys to Merlotte's, and he took them. Then he stared back at me for a few moments, just taking me in, and that's when the yelling started.

"Just what the hell are you thinking, Sook, drinking enough V to get yourself looking like this?! I know it's none of my business, but people are gonna notice! Have you even looked at yourself in a mirror?"

"Of course I have! And it wasn't like I had any choice in it, Sam! I was attacked, and I was dying! My blood was poisoned, and the vamps had to drain me and transfuse me! I was changing colors, and so was the damn room!"

He rolled back on his heels at that, seeming to consider it, and calming considerably. He studied my face like it was a Madonna, eyes sliding over my hair, to my skin, to my eyes, and I ducked my own head at his perusal.

Damn it, I couldn't even feel good about using my Word of the Day.

"What did this to you?" he asked finally.

I raised my head and threw up my hands in frustration.

"Would you believe it? A maenad! Right here in Bon Temps! Said I was a message for Eric, of all the things. That vamp gets me in more trouble, I swear..."

I trailed off as I noticed Sam's face. It was turning near on fuchsia.

"Sam?" I asked softly.

"She clawed you?" he asked in a strangled voice.

"Right across the back," I agreed angrily.

"But she was with me last night. I thought-"

"Wait, Sam. What do you mean, 'she was with me, last night?'"

I was starting to get pissed, and by pissed, I mean royally pissed. Jane Bodehouse puking on my best pair of sneakers pissed. Sam...

Well, Sam was looking as uncomfortable as I'd ever seen him.

"We've been... together," he said finally, wringing his fingers through his wild mess of gold red hair. "In the wild. These past few nights."

My hands shot to my hips and I gave him my best kooky smile. I wondered on a passing note what it looked like on my new face, then passed the thought off for sheer rage.

"Well now, Sam, I'm not seeing how that's possible seeing as she spent part of last night nigh on flaying me alive!"

I was shouting and finding it hard to care.

"Well damn it, Sook, I didn't know she'd go and do that! Maenads are a little mad, you know! I'm sure she didn't mean to kill you! She had to know Eric could fix you!"

I nearly slapped him, and I had a feeling if I'd done it, supe DNA or not he'd have been on the floor after the transfusion I'd had the night before.

"Could she now, Sam? Could she really? You said it yourself, she's a little mad!"

"And besides all that, this is your solution? Honestly? Getting yourself juiced on V? You know if you die right now you'll come back as one of them? Is that really what you want?"

I didn't even hesitate before I snapped back.

"What I want is to be with Eric, Sam! Whatever the costs!"

Sam reeled back like I'd actually slapped him.

"You can't mean that."

"Oh I mean it, just as I say it," I said plain, loud and clear. "I'll be staying with Eric Northman for good, one way or the next."

"Sook, you're twenty-five! You've been with him four months! How can you even say a thing like that?"

Was there any explaining to this stubborn man the wills of my determined heart? The gentleness my predator lover showed me, or the tenderness he demonstrated to the disregard of everyone else? The only thing I felt having to defend that love, yet again, after all Eric had done for me and my Gran, was furious. Especially towards shapeshifter Sam, who knew more than most what it was like having to hide one's true nature.

"Don't you go doubting my resolve on this, Sam Merlotte! You know better than most that'd be the wrong way to go about keeping me happy!"

He softened, his blue eyes going gentle. He didn't say it out loud, but I heard it loud and clear all the same.

_ And we both know keeping you happy is more than a little important to me._

The thought went a long ways to settling me down.

"I'm sorry about Callisto," he said gruffly.

"Oh, she has a name, does she?" I smarted savagely.

Sam looked pained, and I tried to care over what I was gonna suffer today for my new face.

"Well you go on and tell her it'd mean more coming from her," I said (a touch) less savagely.

"I'll do that," he said stiffly, and I decided as the silence turned awkward that I'd had enough of the conversation.

I shoved past Sam and out into the restaurant proper. Arlene was looking curious about whatever we'd been arguing about, and I rudely dropped into her thoughts to see if she'd overheard anything we'd been shouting at each other. It wouldn't do for her to know about my V-juice transfusion after I'd gone to all the trouble to lie about it and glamour her into believing the lie.

_Must have been fighting about that vampire again. Seems a nice enough fellow, saving her life and all, but honestly... Don't know if I could go on fucking a corpse night after night._

"You missed some glass on the floor over there Arlene," I said spitefully, using my new hypnotic powers, and watched as she scurried about searching the floor for it.

Then I made the mistake of glancing out the window and noticed that Andy Bellefluer's rear door on his old Buick was cracked open. And that wasn't right, was it? I mused. Surely his battery would run down and he wouldn't be able to start her up. I made a decision then to just go on out and shut it. I almost left Arlene searching for the make-believe glass, but decided that was a little too cruel.

"I think I must have been mistaken, Arlene. You got it all," I said, releasing her from whatever magick I'd weaved over her.

She shot up off the floor almost immediately.

"Shoo! If that don't beat all! I could have sworn I'd seen more of it down here!"

"Must have been the lights reflecting," I said aloud.

_Must have been your cruel as Lucifer mind_, I added silently.

"Andy Bellefluer left his door open on his Buick," I said then, pushing towards the front door. "I'm going to just go on out and shut it."

"Let me go on out with you. Grab a smoke afore we open."

Arlene had been pregnant, but she'd lost the baby two months back, and she'd taken up smoking with a vengeance again after. She'd taken the miscarriage with more than a little joy I knew, and it was with a mixed heart that I took the news myself. The father of said baby had been Rene Lenier, who had straight up tried to murder me, and damned near succeeded. If not for a well-aimed shot by my super-Gran, he might very well have gotten the job done.

Still, I felt guilty for having messed with Arlene's mind, despite all her nasty thoughts about Eric and I. The only excuse I could come up for doing such a thing was that I was feeling a little less than human this morning.

"Sure thing," I said, a little more kindly, and we walked out together.

Crossing the parking lot should've taken no more than a minute, but I slowed myself to give Arlene a chance to light up her smoke. She was going on about something Coby had said to rile up Lisa the night before, but truth be told I wasn't listening real closely. I was still stuck in my own head, worrying about what was going to happen when other people starting showing up at Merlotte's. Just how many times today was I going to have to do the 'Eric paid for the works' mantra, anyhow, and how many people were likely to believe it? Would this new glamouring trick of mine work on a group of people, or just one at a time? I was more than a little terrified to experiment lest someone notice what I was doing and call me out on it. Then again, most folks already considered me crazy Sookie, so maybe it would just slide right on by them.

I was so busy with my thoughts that when I finally made it to Andy's old Buick and started to shut the door, I barely noticed that it was stuck ajar. It wasn't until the fourth or fifth shove that I clued into Arlene staring at me and the car.

"Sook, honey, I think there's something stuck in it," she said real gentle like. I guess this was one of those days when she figured I was off my rocker. It wasn't far from the truth.

"I guess so," I said on a nervous laugh, and this time pulled the door towards myself instead. A stench that could only be described as foul smacked at the air, and both of us recoiled back from it as one. There was a motion and a leg rolled out, and I took a glance inside the car to see the rest of a thin brown corpse, naked and apparently already in a heavy state of decomposition.

I didn't need to take a second glance, because there was no mistaking the brown and crimson toed manicured foot sticking out of Andy Bellefluer's car: it belonged to Merlotte's cook, Lafayette Reynold.

As if on some delay, Arlene let loose a scream then loud enough, if I didn't know any better, to wake the dead. I might have screamed myself if it had been my first corpse, but it wasn't, and it probably wasn't gonna be my last. Instead, I felt my heart sink deep in my chest, and felt ashamed that I had even been worrying about my newly beautified face when Lafayette had been laying defiled like this just outside.

Arlene was still screaming, and Sam must have heard, because he came running out of the bar with a baseball bat and a fierce expression. His supe senses caught up with the stench coming from the car quicker than either Arlene or I had, and he dropped down from red alert and settled the bat at his side. He reached out his hand and gently curled his palm around Arlene's shoulder, and she jumped near high to the sky.

"Arlene," he said softly on shaking her, then louder and harder until she snapped out of her screaming.

"Arlene," he repeated, "you go on in the bar with Sookie while she calls the cops. Tell 'em what we've got," he said, making eyes at me, and I nodded sadly.

"Come on now, sweetie," I said on leading her towards the bar. Her cigarette had long since dropped from her lax fingers.

Poor Lafayette, I thought as I glanced back at Sam standing at Andy's Buick, staring into it with the bat settled at his side. And then I had one last selfish, and very grateful, thought.

Looked like my new face wasn't going to be the talk of the town today after all.


	3. Chapter 3- Dead Men Tell No Tales

**Chapter Three- Dead Men Tell No Tales**

I sat Arlene down in one of the booths and then went to the bar and poured her a shot of whiskey. I knew it probably wasn't a good idea, but I was also pretty sure she wasn't gonna be any use to anyone unless she snapped out of her shock, so whiskey it was. Coming back over, I took her hand in mine and nudged her chin with my other until she was looking into my eyes.

"Arlene, now sweetie. You just drink this right on up, okay?" I said, using a bit of glamour. Eric had pulled a similar stunt when I had found my first body, and I knew how much better I had felt after.

"Okay," she said, voice sounding more than a little desolate. I watched her take the shot, then poured her another before heading over to the bar to dial up the parish sheriff, Bud Dearborn, seeing as Merlotte's was outside city limits.

I called Bud direct, using the cell number he'd given Eric months before when Rene had been after me. I figured since it was Andy's car that had a body in it, he might appreciate the head's up before I dialed 911, if he wanted me to at all. He answered on the third ring, sounded winded.

"Dearborn," he grunted out.

"Sheriff, it's Sookie Stackhouse. I've got a situation I think you might want knowing about."

"You calling on vamp business, girlie?"

"Not at all. On account of one of your detectives, Andy Bellefluer. He left his old Buick here last night after drinking a bit much, and someone shoved Lafayette Reynold's body into it sometime before this morning. Arlene and I found him when we were trying to close the door to save his battery from draining. Seems like he's already been dead for a day or two."

Bud was quiet for a moment or two, but with my vamp juiced hearing it was easy hearing his shocked breathing. I waited patiently for his response; Bud and I hadn't been on the best of terms when Rene had been on his killing spree, but things had warmed up a bit between us since he and Eric had come to an understanding. I could only hope that would hold up now that I was stuck in the middle of it, yet again.

"Seems like you're always in the thick of it, girlie," he said finally, mimicking my very thoughts.

"And wouldn't I like to be anywhere else," I said ruefully. "You want me to dial up 911?"

"No, I'll take care of it. You just hold tight and don't let no one else near the car. I'll be out there quick as I can."

"Sure thing, sheriff."

I hung up just as Sam was coming in the front door. He glanced at Arlene, who was nursing her whiskey with a shaky hand, then made a beeline straight for me. He set the baseball bat down behind the bar then leaned in close.

"You get anything off the scents out there?" I asked him very quietly.

He shook his head.

"Parking lot's full of people, and Lafayette's is rotted enough by this point that I'd have to literally crawl on him to get a scent. CSI wouldn't look too kindly to me rolling on his body, I expect."

We exchanged a meaningful look.

"Looks like it's up to me," I said softly.

Sam ran his hands through his hair in unconscious distress.

"Cher, getting involved in another murder investigation? Don't you think you've put yourself in harm's way enough to-"

"Lafayette was my friend, Sam," I said firmly on interrupting him. "And it may have escaped your notice, but I'll be a bit harder to kill these days."

The sound of sirens reached Sam's and my ears about the same time, and we turned as one to glance out the window. They were still a good ways off, but it wouldn't be long now.

"Listen," I said urgently, clutching at Sam's arm. "I need you to let me get Bud alone for a minute, if he's with anyone. I need to talk to him before hand before he gets too suspicious about how I look now."

Sam gave me a strange look.

"And what could you possibly do about that, Sook?"

"You just let me worry about that."

The sound of tires crunching gravel reached my ears, and we glanced at Arlene, who was staring down at her empty glass. Sam sighed.

"I best call in Holly and Danielle if we can even think about opening today. Not to mention a cook."

Holly Cleary and Danielle Gray were best friends, and if one was working, so was the other. Most Tuesday mornings they'd be working anyhow, but I'd asked to work the morning shift so I could be at Fangtasia for the bi-monthly staff meeting, and Holly had called off with Danielle. Holly was a wilting haired blond with perfect skin, and Danielle was a brunette with copious freckles. Both were divorced with small children, and while they were both around my age, we'd never really caught on as friends. They seemed to exist in their own little universe.

"Alrighty then," I agreed. "I'll see if I can get Arlene to roll some silverware up, at the least. Keep her hands busy."

Then for the fourth time that day, I went and compelled Arlene to action. This time it was like blowing ripples into water; I barely even had to try. Still, I was worried after her, and touched her skin to make sure she wasn't cold from shock. She wasn't, and I set her back down in the booth to roll the silverware. She went about it quietly, and I set about making iced tea as we waited for Sheriff Dearborn to make his way inside.

Fifteen minutes later, Bud came in with Alcee Beck on his heels. Alcee was the only African American working as a detective for Renard County Parish, and with Bud they managed to run the parish, at least the important, lawful portions.

I glanced meaningfully at Sam, and he made a beeline for Alcee. I went straight for Bud, who looked like he'd just come off his farm with his mud splattered boots, and pulled him aside. He didn't even seem to notice my appearance at first, distracted as he was by Arlene sitting quietly rolling silverware with a dull look on her face, but when I said his name, he looked straight at me and did a double take.

"What in lord's name happened to you, Sookie?" he demanded, and I made a soothing sound in the back of my throat.

"Nothing's happened to me," I said quietly. Behind me I could hear Sam questioning Alcee about when we could open up for the day, and other such nonsense.

"In fact," I said gently, "I've always looked near like this. It's just Eric had a specialist flown in from Hollywood to give me a spa day. I look real nice, don't I?"

"Real nice," he repeated dully, with a nod.

"And I'd appreciate you telling others what a wonderful job that specialist did on fixing me up, alrighty?" I said, syrupy sweet.

"Sure thing, there, Sookie."

With that, I let him go, just as I heard Alcee's footsteps coming up behind me.

"Hey there, Sookie," I heard him say. "Sam tells me you and Arlene found the body?"

Alcee didn't even take a second glance at my appearance. He was too busy wondering if Andy's Buick was infected with AIDS off Lafayette's corpse. It was all I could do not to slap him straight across the face.

"We did," I said as even-keeled as possible considering the thoughts I was being forced to listen in on. Alcee was a hell of a broadcaster, and he was busy thinking all sorts of cruel things about Lafayette, including how much better the local African American community was without him.

"But I'm not sure how much use Arlene's gonna be right now."

Both of them glanced at her and seemed to consider that.

"Sookie, why don't we just take this back to Sam's office then," Bud said just then, and thank god he interrupted my own thoughts, because my itching palms had started twitching towards Alcee.

Sam nodded wearily in our direction, and we headed on back.

Once we got into Sam's office, Bud took Sam's chair and Alcee took the spare, leaving me standing. I nearly scowled at Alcee; so much for gentlemen.

"Now Sookie, you want to run us through what happened this morning?" Bud asked, rocking back in Sam's chair as he took out his little notepad and pen.

"We were getting ready as usual. Sam was in the back office, and Arlene and I were up front when I noticed that Andy's car door was ajar. I had a thought about his battery, and told Arlene I was gonna go out and close it so it wouldn't run down and she asked me to wait. Wanted to come grab a smoke before we opened.

"When we got to the car, I tried shutting the door, but it wouldn't close. Finally, I pulled it open and his... his leg rolled out and I saw his body."

_Fucking faggot._

I swallowed hard then and slammed my mental shields down as I caught a glimpse of Lafayette's naked corpse from Alcee's brain along with a wave of disgust. Poor, poor Lafayette. I determined right then and there I would find out who had killed him and have the bastards punished, one way or another. He, or she, or them, would be confessing, even if I had to get Eric, or apparently myself, to glamour them into doing it.

"And when was the last time you saw him alive?"

"Well last night Anthony Bolivar was working."

"That'd be one of Eric's boys then?" Bud asked, making a little note. He'd been keeping up with the workings of Area Five, as much as Eric would share with him, and the two had an exchange of information going on.

"Well, yes."

Alcee reeled back at that revelation, looking nigh on ridiculous in his fancy tie and suit with the fear and disgust just pouring off of him like water. His black skin was slick with a sheen of sweat.

"You're saying the short-order cook here at Merlotte's some nights is a _vampire_?" he demanded.

"Comes with the times," Bud said before I could snap out a reply. He looked nonplussed, and I could've hugged him just then. Maybe he was coming around.

"Last I can remember," I said, directing my answers squarely at Bud now and cutting Alcee out completely, "I saw him three days back. He was telling me all about a party he'd been to, with all kinds of sex hijinks and the like."

Both of their jaws dropped at that, and I threw up my hands.

"His words, not mine!"

"And you didn't think to tell no one, Sookie Stackhouse?" Bud's voice was stern and disappointed.

Vampire short-order cooks, sure, no problem. Fancy sex parties, well hold the cake!

"Well why should I? People got a right to their private lives."

I knew that better than most, and the more I thought about it, the more I thought about Lafayette winking and pressing his finger over his lips like the party was some great secret, the more I thought the party might have had something to do with his death. It seemed awful coincidental that he went to such a party just before his death, then was whispering about it to who knows how many before showing up dead. I was suddenly furious that whoever had taken advantage of Lafayette's playful nature had killed for it just the same.

Bud was staring at me, I soon discovered, and I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

"You say something, sheriff?"

"Did he mention drugs or the like being at this party?"

"No, nothing like that."

"Did he say whether this party was at a white person or a black person's house?"

This came from Alcee, who I ignored as I spoke my answer to Bud.

"White."

"White?" Bud replied, startled. "You're sure?"

"I'm sure," I said stubbornly. I could still remember Lafayette's comment about their pictures on the walls, the folks being "white as lilies and smiling like alligators."

Bud and Alcee let me go after that, and if I'd thought I'd been happy to get out of Sam's office earlier that morning, well, it didn't even compare to now.

Sam was waiting on me when I came out, and he reached for my hand to give it a squeeze. I squeezed back before glancing over at Arlene, who had finished rolling silverware and was shakily smoking a cigarette. Alcee started to head her way but Bud stopped him and motioned to him to go on outside, where I imagined Mike Spencer, the parish coroner and funeral home director, was already dealing with poor Lafayette's body. I watched with mournful eyes as Bud sat down across from Arlene and gently began to speak to her. Every so often she would whisper something, or shake her head, and he would nod back.

"You know, I think I've come to like Bud a bit more since all the fuss with Rene," I said to Sam as I watched them speak.

Sam snorted, and I turned and gave him confused eyes.

"Only you would call getting nigh on choked to death 'all the fuss,' Sook."

"Well, I'm alive and well, aren't I? More than I can say for Lafayette."

"Whatever happened to him wasn't pretty, Sook. From what I could tell from looking at his body, his neck was snapped. And I heard them talking outside... Looks like he was sexually assaulted sometime before or after he died."

"So I was right," I said softly. "That orgy thing did have something to do with his death."

Sam gave me a knowing look.

"He tell you about that, too?"

"If it was even real, it looks like he might have told one person too many."

I shook my head.

"You don't think he was lying," Sam stated, surprised. "You really think there's biracial, bisexual parties happening here in Bon Temps?"

" I usually get a feel on people when they're fibbing that large. That party was real, alright. And Lafayette seemed... Proud of it, somehow. Being invited to a get-together like that with fancy white folks. Maybe he slipped up and wanted to keep up the relationships in public. Not much Lafayette wouldn't do for acceptance."

"And it looks like it got him killed."

"Well, one way or another, I'll be finding the killer, or killers."

"You think there might be more than one?"

"At this point, Sam? Nothing's outside the realm of possibilities."

"You just be careful."

"Now you're starting to sound like Eric."

"Well, we wouldn't want that to happen, now would we?"

Sam sniggered at me and flicked a towel my way. I smirked back and ducked the trajectory of the towel with ease.

"I don't know. I kinda like the guy. I'm thinking about keeping him around for awhile."


	4. Chapter 4- Through the Looking Glass

**Chapter Four- Through the Looking Glass**

Holly and Danielle showed up about half an hour after Bud and Alcee left, and their faces were grim. They came in arm in arm, and I could tell from both of their thoughts that they would miss Lafayette and his strange ways. It made me think better of the both of them, so I went over and gave them both a hug as they were putting their purses by the register.

"Thanks for coming in, you two."

"Well how could we not, things being as they are. This place is liked to get slammed afore long." This came from Danielle, the smarter of the set, who was looking at me strangely. Holly was, too, I noted.

"You're right, I know you're right," I said, feeling guilty about what I was about to ask.

"You get some work done or something, Sook?" asked Holly, the straightforward one, interrupting what I was about to ask.

"What? Oh yeah, my face." I looked at them both and let the mojo fly. "Eric just had a beautician come in from Hollywood, and don't I look nice? Just a little bit more than normal?"

"Beautiful," they both said as one, though Danielle's narrow face pinched in a bit as I glamoured them. Maybe my new glamouring wasn't so universally effective, after all. Or maybe it was just because I'd tried it on both of them at once.

Either way, I was going to have to be careful there, I thought as I let the glamour drop.

"I hate to ask this, but do you two think you can hold on here while I take Arlene home and go see my Gran? I'd like to fill her in in person, after what all happened with Rene. Sam already said it would be alright if you two were okay with it."

"Yeah, we'll be fine covering once the crowds come in," Holly said then, and I could read from her mind that she wouldn't mind earning on the extra tips. I felt a rush of relief.

"Alrighty then. Thank you both so much for the trouble. I just... my Gran, you know..."

"We all know what you went through with Rene, Sookie," Holly said kindly. "There's no need to explain it to us."

I nodded and turned on my heels to go fetch Arlene.

Arlene didn't speak much on the way home, just asked questions about her car and when and who was gonna bring it out to her so she could pick up her kids. I told her that the school had already been notified and that they'd be on the bus coming home rather than on the way to daycare, and that Sam would bring her car out to her just as soon as the bar closed that night. She didn't bother talking after that, and I didn't bother trying to make her. I knew what she was going through, as well as anyone could, and knew she would handle it in her own way, god willing.

As I backed out of Arlene's driveway, I felt my pulse pick up the pace. The closer I grew to home, the more and more nervous I grew about what Gran would say over my new appearance. How would she take it? Would she understand that I'd had to do it for the sake of living? Would she understand that it wasn't really Eric's fault, or would she blame him for putting me in danger yet again?

I parked my car and pulled my keys out, lifting up my apron and slowly shoving open my door. I walked steadily towards the house. My feet dragged me onto the old porch, and I listened to the gentle creak of the old porch swing as I stood in front of my door, trying to work up the courage to go inside my childhood home. The ache in my chest grew with every second, the knowledge that the person stepping inside would be somehow intrinsically different than the one who had left only two days earlier.

Gran must have heard me, because I heard her, headed towards the door. I ducked my head, suddenly panicking as she opened the rasping screen door, letting my loose hair fall around my face.

"Sookie?" I heard her say. "I heard about Lafayette, sweetie. I'm so sorry you had to find him like that."

"Yes, 'mam," I managed. "It sure was awful."

Then I lifted my newly beautified face and stared right into her lovely old, craggy one.

"Oh, my Sookie," was all she said when she saw my new face, and then I was in her arms, and I was crying, and feeling like I was roiling inside my own skin. So much had happened in the last 24 hours, and once again I was dead center. Gran held me and made gentle shooing noises by my head.

"There, there now, my Sookie. It ain't nothing you can't get past without the help of the Lord and love."

I shuddered in her arms, and held on tight, wishing, not for the first time, that I could have my vamps with me the same as humans for the daylight hours. Just to hold tight as well, crushed between the four or five odd folks I loved the best. My Gran, my sheriff, my cousin Hadley, her girlfriend Pam, and, on occasion, my brother Jason.

We made it inside to the kitchen table, and Gran made me a cup of coffee before I started talking.

"I nearly died again last night, Gran. A maenad, she poisoned me with her claws to send a message to Eric," I confessed cautiously, waiting to see her reaction.

Her reaction, as it were, was murderous, but not towards Eric.

"What foolishness is this? Does every body in Renard Parish have it out for that boy and mine, or what?"

"Seems that way," I muttered mulishly, watching as she settled herself down in the chair opposite me with a scowl on her face. "But Gran, Eric says she 'brings on the madness,' whatever that means."

"Well, maenads are the wild daughters of Bacchus, aren't they?" I nodded at her; like me, Gran was a voracious reader. "From what I can recall rightly, they would drink themselves silly in an attempt to communicate with their god, eating the raw flesh of animals and man alike along the way."

I swallowed hard. I didn't like the sound of that, but at least I could narrow one suspect off my list; Lafayette sure hadn't been eaten, or sliced up as I had.

I was suddenly exhausted despite the V-juice, and all I wanted to do was go on up to my creaky old bed and lay down for a spell. I told Gran so, and she kissed me on my beautiful forehead and sent me on up. I curled up on the bed I'd had since I was seven, ever since my folks had been washed away in a flash flood, and pulled the covers up to my chin. The kitten that Eric had given me, who I had named Tigger, made a soft mewling noise and climbed on up with me, and soon I was fast asleep.

By the time I woke from my nap, it was getting near dusk. I rolled out of bed and straight into the bathroom for a shower, letting the hot water run all over my body until my muscles loosened out. I pulled on one of my new outfits after, a pair of dressy black slacks and a button up blue shirt that made my eyes pop. I took a look in the mirror as I was doing up my buttons, and it was odd to see the fancy clothes looking so forlorn on my new supermodel form. Deciding that I was just being silly, I ignored myself over the thought. I didn't even need makeup anymore, I realized, but still I put on my moisturizer and a bit of bronzer all the same.

I heard Gran putting about the kitchen as I was dressing, and from the scent of it, making me a late supper. I sniffed hungrily. Red beans and her famous cornbread, from the scent of it. I hadn't eaten all day, and I was starving. I all but skipped down to the kitchen, and nearly scared myself silly when I found myself down by the refrigerator in not more than a flash.

I wasn't the only one I scared.

"Lordy, Sookie, you near on gave me a heart attack!" Gran exclaimed, backing up into the stove with the cast iron pan out in front of her as if to ward me off. The cornbread was steaming, and I gently reached out to take the heavy load off her hands.

"Sorry," I said guiltily as I set the pan on the table warmer. "I'm kinda still getting used to it all, and I'm faster than I used to be."

"I'd say so! Quieter, too!"

I glanced down at my new heels, a pair of black Prada's that had been a gift from Hadley (we wore the same shoe size), and could only wonder.

"Sit on down," Gran encouraged as she bustled back to the stove. "I'll get you a plate."

I sat, glad for the subject change, and let her fix me up a plate of beans and cornbread with a tall glass of milk on the side. I ate it all, scraping the plate, plus a slice of pecan pie for desert. Gran sat next to me, beaming at me as I wolfed it all down.

"What is it?" I asked between bites.

"I know you had a hard day, that you've had some harder ones just recently... but it's good to see you living, eating. You've lost weight, you know."

I frowned at that.

"I haven't!"

"You have!" she assured me. "Through the waist and thighs. I worry after you eating, being with the vampires all the time as you are. Much as I love Eric and Pam, not even to mention Hadley, their appetites don't exactly match yours. Promise me you'll eat more?"

I grinned at her.

"Promise me you'll cook more often."

Gran reached out a wrinkly hand and cupped my chin.

"Anytime you're around, child. Anytime at all."

Gran knew I had work at Fangtasia that night and not to expect me home, and truth be told I was spending most of my nights with Eric anyhow. Despite the levity we had shared, my mood darkened once again as I drove towards Shreveport, my thoughts returning to Lafayette and my almost murder the night before. I didn't want to be in a poor way for the bi-monthly meeting, as I was representing Eric in more ways than one, but I had to wonder just when bad stuff was gonna stop happening to me, whether it be on account of human folks or the vamps. I was tired, and more than a little angry, and the closer I got to Shreveport, the more I knew that Eric felt it. I could feel him sending waves of calm back at me over my distress via the blood bond, but it did little to ease how I was feeling. Too much had happened in two days. I needed my love live and in vampire before I would feel any better about recent events.

I pulled up at the club, but the parking lot was still near on empty. It was only a bit after nine, and business didn't really pickup on Mondays and Tuesdays 'til after ten, which is why Eric always chose one of those days or the other for the bi-monthly meetings. I drove around to the back and parked in one of the employee spaces, dashing up to the door and rapping lightly three times, then twice, the knock employees used. It wasn't loud, but I knew someone would hear it. Sure enough, Chow flipped the door open seconds after, and his eyes slid over me hungrily as he sidestepped to let me past.

"Ms. Stackhouse," he graveled out.

I shivered, but remembered my manners as my Gran had taught me.

"Chow. Thanks for the... you know... last night."

"It was my pleasure," he said, with a courtly little bow, and I got the feeling that if Eric hadn't of been there he maybe he wouldn't have stopped. It was enough to have me hurrying past him and out into the club proper, where I found Eric standing by the bar texting on his phone.

"Eric!" I cried out, dashing across the half-filled club towards him. He caught me mid-leap, hand cupping the back of my head as I buried my face into the side of his neck. I could feel the shock off the human patrons, but I clamped downed tight and ignored them. The vampires were used to such shows between us by this point, and were staring at me for other reasons.

I could hear Eric murmuring in a foreign tongue, trying to sooth me, felt him sending waves of warm calm through our blood bond. His spare hand was wrapped under my bottom, lifting me tight to his body, so that there wasn't even a fraction of space between us. He felt warm off some borrowed heat, and I burrowed into it, taking what I could, desperate to erase the chill from my soul.

"I am here, my heart," Eric said, finally in English.

"I've had the worst day," I warbled against his neck.

"So I've heard."

"Bud?"

"And Merlotte."

"Spies," I accused angrily.

"Worried about you," he corrected calmly, and I tried to convince myself of the difference.

"If you two can unhitch yourselves, the meeting's about to start," drawled Pam. I glanced up from Eric and gave her a warm smile.

"Good to see you, too, Pam."

"Delectable as always, my dear," she said on drawing Hadley past.

Hadley gave me a giggle and a wave, tossing her long brunette curls back over her shoulder. She was dressed in jeans and a pink baby tee with tiny gray hippopotamuses over the front, and looked strange contrasting to Pam's Lycra and black lace ensemble that she'd worn for work.

"Looks like death just has it in for me," I said on a sigh as I watched them pass.

Eric let me slide down his front slowly, as if he were enjoying every inch of my body, and I knew wickedly that that was exactly what he was doing. He was in a semi-state of arousal by the time he was finished, and I leaned up against his chest on my tippie-toes to give him a smacking kiss.

"More like has it up for you," he murmured hungrily, but when he glanced at his phone, I could tell that something had him distracted from our usual cheerful banter. I almost asked him about it, but he kissed me again, more properly this time, and I got distracted.

He hesitated briefly once more after, glancing down at his phone before tucking it in his jeans, then back up to me, and I could feel his indecisiveness flowing along our blood bond before he neatly blocked it out.

I frowned at him as his large palm settled in the small of my back.

"Come. The meeting needs to start."

Chow was staring at me as we entered the room, ecstatic eyes following every motion I made, and I nearly wrapped my arms around myself, feeling uncomfortable. Indira, a tall and shapely Indian vampire with long black hair loosely hitting her hips and huge doe eyes followed my progress as well, but her interest seemed curious more than hungry, and I was grateful for it as I settled in the chair by Eric's desk.

I glanced up to Eric, but he had taken notice of Chow's notice, and was staring ice daggers into the younger vampire's skull. Chow seemed to be (rightly) taking this into proper consideration, because he dropped the creepy stare and focused in on our Viking leader instead.

The meeting began with a whopper, and it surely whopped me on the head.

"As I'm sure you're all aware, we've had a proposal offered up from Area 6 in Dallas. A nest mate of theirs named Farrell has gone missing, and Stan, their sheriff, has requested the services of my human and telepath to resolve the issue. I'm inclined to agree to his proposal."

So this was it, the thing that Eric had wanted to tell me, and while I wanted to scowl at him, I kept my face blank off years of practice. I would've said discuss, but I could tell by the level of disquiet coming through the blood bond that he needed more than wanted me to agree to this proposal. Something hinky was going on, something important to him on more than on just a business level.

As I eyeballed the other vampires around the room, they nodded their agreement, but Eric wasn't even taking notice. He had eyes only for me, and I could see the steely resolve behind his big blue eyes. And I knew, despite the warnings he had given me about other vampires being in my presence since my transfusion, that this mattered more to him somehow. I wasn't sure what that meant, other than the sharp pain piercing through my heart, and the reciprocating one piercing through his.

I opened my mouth, uncertain as to what words were going to come out.

"I've always wanted to go on back to Dallas," I lied with a kooky smile.

"Well, that is settled then. Pamela, you will see to things."

"Of course," she said, glancing between the two of us. I could tell she was as uncertain as I felt.

The meeting continued forward with little of interest after that. The bar staff received their schedules, monthly profit margins were discussed, as were new options for merchandise for Fantasia's gift shop. I listened in with one ear, adding my input whenever it was requested, but my attention was elsewhere.

I was too busy borrowing trouble wondering what could be so all important to Eric that he would risk my safety with a bunch of strange vamps.

By the time the meeting was over, I'd worked myself up into quite a state. I stood with my hand in Eric's as I had for the end of every other bi-monthly meeting for the past four months, and together, we watched the vampires exit the room.

The last thing I saw was a sliver of my cousin Hadley's big brown eye as the door shut gently over her face.

I took my hand back immediately once they were gone, and turned to face him head on, one very short blond telepathic barmaid to one very tall blond vampire sheriff.

"Well let's hear it, then," I said softly once they were gone, in my gentlest of voices. It was the voice I used when I was trying very, very hard not to lose my temper.

Eric, for his part, looked steeled for an argument. His eyes were hooded, his jaw was clenched, and the glowing flesh on his forearms and biceps was strained with blue veins. I could tell whatever this was, was important. But enough to risk my safety? After all that we had been through?

It had better be something extra special important.

"I cannot say no to Stan about Farrell, Sookie," he said as soon as the last of the footsteps faded.

"And why's that, then?"

"The situation is more... complicated than I let on."

I threw my hands into the air.

"Well get on with it already! Or did you forget that I feel everything you're feeling? Guilt like a nun stealing an apple off a toddler?!"

I didn't think he was going to respond at first, but he did, almost peevishly.

"There is another vampire missing in Dallas, not just Farrell. His name is Godric, and I have... Personal ties to him."

He seemed conflicted as to how much to tell me, but I was having none of it.

"Uh huh, buddy. Out with all of it, or you can forget me stepping one foot out of the great state of Louisiana."

His jaw flexed, but I could feel he was about to indulge me. I waited, trying to be patient as he brooded, but it was all I could do not to tap my foot.

"I owe Godric allegiance through my maker, Appius Livius Ocella," he said finally. "They were compatriots at one time. Soldiers together. Godric is my... grandsire."

"You mean he made your maker."

"Yes, that is exactly what I mean."

I considered this for a long moment, and the ache in my chest began in dull a bit. All this was beginning to make some sense, but it worried me more than a little that this Appius had such pull over Eric, enough pull that Eric was hesitant to even tell me of his existence. Was this likely to cause problems for us in the future, I had to wonder?

I focused back in on Eric, and I could see the earnestness in his eyes over this, the plead for my understanding, and finally I nodded my head yes. I felt more than watched the relief flood in, and realized that whatever he thought had happened to Godric and Farrell, it couldn't be that serious, as he was back to his normal wicked grin.

"Aside from that, I have negotiated a very plush bargain for you. You will earn a very generous sum, as will Area 5."

"I won't go without you," I insisted, planting my pretty Prada right down on his fancy Fangtasia floor mat.

"No, of course not," he said haughtily, as if that had ever been in question. "Especially not now," he said on brushing his fingertips down the crest of my cheekbone. "We have also negotiated Hadley to go as well, as your secondary companion."

"What about Pam?"

"Pamela will be staying here to watch over the club with Chow."

"Oh." I felt kinda bad about separating the two, who were practically joined at the hip, but having Hadley with me would make me feel worlds better.

"You will need some additional clothes for this trip, however."

I glanced down at my outfit, than back up at him questioningly.

"This isn't good enough?"

"While I find your taste impeccable, my heart, I'm afraid we need to make a bigger show with the Dallas vampires than what we do at bi-monthly meetings. I believe Pamela has what you need."

I was suspicious of that statement, and told him so. He merely smiled. Sensuously.

"Labels with the word 'Versace' among others are hanging in the downstairs closet for you, along with appropriate footwear. You will utilize them."

I smiled at him brightly.

"When pigs fly."

"I have a witch on retainer. It can be arranged."

My temper was reasserting itself with a vengeance.

"Eric, I have told you a dozen times that I will not be managed!"

He clucked his tongue at me disapprovingly, but there was a merry twinkle in his eyes.

"Pamela went to great efforts to obtain these clothes for you. My credit card will be feeling the sting for months."

Panic filled me like a flash flood.

"Oh my god, Eric-"

"Joking. But the important thing to remember here is that we must represent Area 5 appropriately."

I folded my arms across my chest and gave him my best Southern stare.

"You mean _you_. We must represent _you_ appropriately."

"As you like. As my human, and more specifically as my asset, you will be seen as an extension of me. I would see you only in the best."

He came up to me, running his hands up and down my arms, murmuring seductively in that foreign tongue of his that never failed to melt my insides.

"You don't play fair," I murmured as his fingers began working on the buttons of my shirt.

"There would be no enjoyment in that," he whispered into the shell of my ear, and then there was no more talking.

* * *

**A/N:**

**I always wondered why Eric was so interested about Godric in LDiD, and as such decided to make my own take on it. I know the original back story with Godric being a child molester and killer, but I've also decided to take a different route with Godric in this story as well. Some will stay the same, some will not, but make no mistake, he will be entirely my own character. As someone reminded me on the reviews, this is fanfiction, and I can do what I want! Expect surprises, and fun, humor and some angst, but mostly fun, because I try very hard not to be an angsty person. There's enough of that in real life, don't you think?**

**As to the reviews themselves, thank you all so very much for taking the time to post them, as well as all the people who have decided to follow this little fic I have going here. Every time I see a new email in my inbox that I have a new review, or a new follower, I get a little giddy inside. It truly makes my day. I am sorry this chapter was late being posted by a day, but I got on a HP fanfic reading binge, and couldn't seem to find my own muse without channeling British idioms...**

**Next up: Sookie slips into something a little less comfortable, Stan's envoy slips up, and Eric discovers Sookie's new gift...**


	5. Chapter 5- Let's Just Be Friends

**Chapter Five- Let's Just Be Friends**

The vestiges of summer heat hit me like an open-handed slap when I stepped out of the little private plane Eric had had commissioned to take us to the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. The ground glistened with it, the air full of the mixing scents of fuel and that strange scent that only hot pavement can give off. The air was near on suffocating with it as I waited for them to unload Eric's coffin.

I was suddenly glad that Pamela had convinced me to wear the scrap of a dress she'd chosen. The top shimmered like a mirage of colors, stretching across my breasts in a way that accentuated them while at the same time drawing more focus to the hourglass shape of my waist. Below the bust, the dress was a stretchy black material that left very little to the imagination before ending a scanty few inches below my hips. I felt positively scandalous in the outfit, but Pamela assured me that it was au couture, and that I had nothing to be ashamed of, before shoving me in a pair of spiky black sandals. My luggage consisted of several more similar outfits, and I wasn't at all sure that drawing more attention to myself was such a good idea.

"They're gonna notice you anyway, doll," Pam had drawled in that smart way of hers. "Why not flaunt it?" And I had given in to the luxury with less fight than I probably should have.

We had arrived ten minutes earlier then our arranged schedule had predicted we would, and I had spent the first five minutes finishing my second cocktail. I picked up my little purse- after being assured by the flight attendant that my baggage would make it to the hotel safely- before descending down into the cargo bay to watch Eric's unloading. So I was a little tipsy and a little focused on seeing my love when the priest approached me.

At first I was deferential. I'd been raised right by my Gran, after all. Priests and preachers were like elders, and they got respect all the same. So when he started speaking to me, I gave him a warm smile.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he said, and I looked over at him. He seemed a little at odds for being a priest, I thought, with his overlong hair in tangles and his bushy mustache, but he seemed genuine enough in his sympathies.

I blame my nerves on missing his implications directly.

"My loss?" I said, a bit confused, before I glanced over at the coffin, and then at the skyline towards the west. It would be dark shortly, I thought, and Eric would be with me, and then I wouldn't have to face all this alone. I was nervous as all get out about this evening, and hoping the new vamps wouldn't take too bright a shine to me. Not to mention the crowds of the airport. I remembered all too well the chaos that had been my senior year of high school, before I'd learned to shield as well as I was able now.

"Your loved one," the priest said, and that's when I noticed that he was inching steadily closer to me, and that he reached out a hand and gripped my arm in a way that was in no way comforting. I jerked away from him, hard, and in my unfamiliar heels, tripped and dropped like the fool I was. The man stood over me, gawking and looking terribly uncertain, and I saw his eyes flash again to where they were unloading Eric to the backdrop of a growingly dusky sky.

It was at that moment that his ill manners really hit home, because every Southern gentleman I knew would be scrambling to help me up off ground, especially considering the panty show I was currently flashing the hanger deck. And beyond that, he was certainly no priest. It wasn't modesty that prevented him from touching me just then, it was fear wafting its way past the barriers I had put up on the plane, and my instincts told me that whatever he was thinking was something I would be better off knowing. After months of working with Eric and years of living in a town where knowing secrets upped my social batting average (whether those calling me 'Crazy Sookie' knew it or not), I decided to go on a little instinct. I dropped my shields immediately, and rudely began probing on the inside of his brain.

_Should I help her up and drag her off? If that vamp wakes up before I get her away from here... I'm dead._

He had planned on kidnapping me! My temper was well on its way to bursting, but with more than a little effort I kept a cool head. I needed him, and whatever other information he had swimming in that kidnapper's skull of his. At least my position on the floor was going to put a krimp in that action, but I decided then and there that keeping him around was just about the best idea I'd ever had. And since I had other weapons at my disposal now, I planned on using them.

"Hey up there," I said, laying on the Southern sweet as sugar. "Think you can help a girl up?" When he glanced down at me, I looked him dead in the eye and turned the glamour on. He went still, his eyes glazing over as he looked into mine, and I took full advantage.

"Help me to my feet," I demanded, extending my arm up.

"Yes, 'mam," he intoned flatly, grasping me by the arm and lifting me up. I did my best to keep my dress down and not to flash my best panties to the entire hanger deck, but the others seemed to be more concerned with unloading Eric's coffin, and at the moment I was glad for it.

"Who are you?" I demanded as I peeled the false priest's fingers off my arm. It seemed his kidnapper's instincts were still a bit on. I thought I might have bruises from his grip, and knew Eric wasn't going to like that.

"My name's Christopher Archer," he said dully.

"And who do you work for, Mr. Archer?"

"The Fellowship of the Sun."

"And what did the Fellowship of the Sun send you here to do?"

"They sent me here to grab you, 'mam."

"But you won't be doing that, will you?"

"No 'mam."

It was then I heard a commotion behind me, a second after I felt a flood of pure emotion surging through my body. Eric was awake, hungry, and eager to reach my side. It took everything I had not to turn from my captured kidnaper to go to him, but it was mere seconds before I felt him flash to my side.

"My beloved-"

"Don't break my concentration Eric," I interrupted before continuing on with Archer.

"You will not move. You will not speak. You will stand perfectly still until I say otherwise. Do you understand?"

"Yes, 'mam."

"If you do not do as I have said, or try to run, my boyfriend here will catch you, and I promise you he will not be as forgiving as me. Do you understand?"

"Yes, 'mam."

"Say you understand."

"I understand."

"Good."

I turned to Eric to find him looking at me with an almost animalistic expression.

"What have you done, my Sookie?" he demanded.

I blew my hair, messy from my fall, out from my face, and sighed wearily.

"I was gonna tell you. I just... didn't know how."

"You have glamoured this man."

"Yes, I think so, but that's not the important part."

I lifted my hand and shoved my hair back from my face and he caught my arm on a flash, staring at the red fingerprints with a murderous expression. He stroked his thumb over the darkening marks gently, as if his touch alone could heal them. His eyes flashed to the man I had glamoured and I had to put a restraining hand to his chest.

"Yes," I said gently, "and no," I said more firmly. "We need him. Besides, I have enough vamp blood in me that they'll probably be gone in a few hours."

Eric chose to ignore that last part, focusing instead on why he couldn't damage the man I had glamoured to a statue.

"Tell me why I may not injure him," he demanded, as we stared together at the frozen, unblinking Archer.

"He was sent here to kidnap me-"

Eric growled and took a further step forward, and I literally had to put my full body weight against his chest, once again teetering on my heels.

"-by the Fellowship of the Sun. We need to find out more about how they knew I was coming, and why they wanted me."

He seemed to settle a bit at that, staring at Archer with dark consideration in his hooded blue eyes.

"Only Stan and his nest mates knew we were making this trip, and only for the past two days," he said finally. "It is most likely that there is a traitor in his nest."

I caught the undertones that Eric wasn't saying, and also the threat of retribution that trailed the words as well. I slid my arms up off Eric's chest and around his neck, settling my head into the crease between his neck and shoulder, and I breathed deep the scent of his cologne and just eau de Eric.

"Stan's being played the fool just as much as we are, Eric. Don't go in there looking to butt heads, alright? I know you, you're wiser than that. Play the diplomat I know you can be."

He sighed in resignation, and cupped the back of my head with one of his big hands.

"It seems you are the exception to my every rule, my beloved Sookie."

I knew it, in my heart, but some part of my head was still stuck listening to the same 'ol recording I'd been hearing up until four months ago when he'd come sweeping in and changed my life. _'Oh that's just Crazy 'ol Sookie.'_ Every time I heard him call me beloved, or heard him tell me I mattered more to him than his precious control reminded me a little more that I really did matter more than what all those bigoted jerk-offs had been telling me all these years. Not to mention what having him saying it did to warm my heart. Between him, Cousin Hadley, and Pam, and of course Gran, I was wrapped in my own little bubble of happy.

Speaking of Hadley...

I lifted my head off Eric's chest and glanced around him back towards where the coffins were being loaded into a van with Anubis Airlines logo printed on the side.

"Where's Hadley?" I asked curiously.

"She's already headed into the airport to deal with the luggage. Stan has a limo waiting for us outside the hanger deck."

"Well, that's just perfect," I said, smiling darkly as I glanced at Archer. "We'll just pack our dear 'lil kidnaper here in with us."

"Sookie..." Eric said hesitantly, keeping one arm wrapped around my waist as I faced Archer again.

"Hmmm?" I asked, my attention all on my glamour now.

"It is nothing. Continue."

"Alrighty, then. Archer, you will follow us. You will not make a fuss. You will do exactly as I and Eric tell you, and speak only when either Eric or I ask you a question. Do you understand?"

"Yes, 'mam. I understand."

"Good! Eric, lead on!"

Eric wrapped a long arm around my waist, and leaned down to whisper in my ear as we walked.

"My beloved, Stan does not know the full extent of your abilities. Neither did I until a few minutes ago, apparently."

I glanced up at his profile and frowned. He didn't look... displeased, but uncertain, perhaps.

"Are you telling me to keep the extent of my abilities hush hush, Eric?" I asked quietly.

"If at all possible, yes. The telepathy is already a known ability, so that should not be a problem, and I will be able to take over Archer's glamour as you have allowed it. His not answering any other vampire's questions we can explain away as our distrust of a traitor in Stan's nest, but you should allow at least Stan to question him."

The logic of this caught me right off and I stopped immediately in my tracks. I ducked away from Eric for a moment, and turned back to Archer, looking him dead in the eye.

"If a vampire named Stan asks you any questions, or directs you to follow any directions, you will obey and answer as you would me. Do you understand?"

"Yes, 'mam. I understand."

I swung back around and tucked myself back under Eric's arm, enjoying the new height the heels gave me.

And if truth be told, it wasn't just the height I was enjoying.

* * *

The limo ride was a treat, and I enjoyed it as such. The seats were all leather and cool under my long, tan legs. I kept them crossed as properly as possible, and had to wonder just how I was going to exit the limo without disgracing myself, but that worry quickly faded in the joy I felt from the other luxuries that abounded. There was a little mini-fridge, and as the buzz of my two cocktails had worn off after my attempted kidnapping, I let myself have two glasses of champagne in the forty-five minute drive it took to get to Stan's nest. I wondered briefly if working for vamps was turning me into a lush, then quickly wrote that off as absurd. This was a vacation, albeit a working one, and if I was going to be subjected to Lord knew what, I was going to enjoy the little luxuries as they came.

Stan's nest, as it turned out, was in an upscale housing community much like Eric's, though not a gated one. It was a stucco three story house with three SUVs and a black sedan parked in the drive, as well as two more sedans parked alongside the house, one in pale gold and another in silver. Our limo pulled up behind the silver sedan and purred to a stop, and I quickly drained the last of my champagne as I heard the driver get out to come around and let us out.

Eric squeezed my fingers, as I knew he could feel my nerves pulsing through our blood bond. He seemed excited, but nervous as well, though not nearly as much as I was. When the driver opened the door and extended his hand to me, I took it gratefully, keeping my other under my dress to keep from flashing panties again. Eric was right behind me, with my 'lil 'ol kidnaper right behind him. Eric walked to my side and laced our fingers, and I leaned into him for warmth. He'd had three Tru Bloods in the car and was feeling positively rosy to the touch.

"You take point?" I murmured at him.

"You don't need to worry about that," he assured me softly. "Stan is my equal, but he'll treat you as I do out of respect. We are blood bonded, and Stan knows that. It gives you a standing far above just being my normal human. You may act as you normally do."

"So deferential with a bit of sass?" I smiled up at him, happy as a clam to have him at my side. With him close, what could possibly go wrong?

He grinned back at me wickedly, and I felt a wave of lust trickle through our blood bond.

"That will do nicely, my Sookie."

The chauffeur opened the door to Stan's nest with less fuss than he had the limo, and I got the sense that this was home for him and a more natural setting, a thought that was confirmed when another vampire shouted out the name 'Chavez!' rather loudly at him and he laughed before waving us forward.

We had come in through the kitchen, and there was a tall, sandy haired man with what looked like a Rolex (Eric had one on his dresser that he never wore), and rolled up sleeves doing a pan of dishes. He smiled at us and gave a sudsy wave, before going back to his chore, and I got the impression that he was thinking of his daughter, and wondered rather absently why he would choose to be away from her as he was now. I glanced at Eric, who was watching Archer as if he would run away, and realized that if I had had a daughter, he would never have made me choose. We would have somehow worked it out; I could have had both, and I knew it. He loved me that much, beyond measure. I wondered which of the vampires in the nest he had chosen over his own flesh and blood, and if it were worth it.

At the end of the kitchen stood a beautiful woman, somewhere in her mid-thirties when she died, I figured. She was obviously of Spanish descent, with pale gold skin that glowed and thick black hair twisted into an elaborate knot on the back of her head. When I saw the outfit she was wearing, I immediately understood why Pam and Eric had been so insistent that I dress up for our little business bash. Her gold stilettos were razorblade sharp, and if her black pencil skirt came off a rack I was Dolly Pardon. A pale purple wrap shirt shimmered in what could only be silk, and reminded me of a string of freshwater pearls that I had seen Pam wear once to a dinner party she'd thrown at Eric's a few months back. (There'd only been the four of us, but that hadn't stopped her from going all out.) She stood with her manicured hands folded politely in front of her, waiting for us to reach her as we crossed the room. The first indication of emotion I saw was a tiny frown line form between her eyes as she saw Archer behind us.

"Welcome to our nest," she said with a silky accent. "I am Isabel. We are so pleased you could join us."

Her eyes flashed again to Archer.

"But I must ask, who is your friend?"

"He is no friend, Isabel, but also is he no concern of yours. We will speak only with Stan."

I turned to stare at Eric, my mouth dropped wide open. He was openly sneering at the woman, as if she had personally sent the kidnaper after me. That was when I stomped down, real hard, on his toes with one of my spiky heels. And that was when I realized that on this occasion, I might have to be the one doing some politicking, and prayed that my strange new beauty might work in our favor.

"He's real sorry," I found myself saying to the beautiful woman, hoping she'd think the same of me. "It's just been a long night. What he meant to say, is that our tag-along here isn't someone that can be explained to anyone but Stan. Isn't that right, honey?"

"That is correct, dear one," he said finally, gruffly, once I replanted my heel on his oversized foot. "It is, most definitely, a matter for Stan."

The woman Isabel was glowing pretty brightly with contention, but she seemed to have more sense to her than Eric at the moment, thank god. She took a long hard look at me and gave a slow smile.

"I suppose then, we should see Stan. Come, this way."

Then she turned on her gold sharp heels and walked on.

We followed her through a short hallway, and then into a dining room, a pushily carpeted affair with a long table. At the head of it, sitting with remarkably relaxed aplomb, sat the vampire I could only assume to be Stan. Isabel moved immediately to stand behind him, and he waved me towards him at my entrance. I walked forward hesitantly some six or seven steps, trying not to fall over as my heels sank into thick carpet. Eric was staying near the entrance, with Archer, seeming content to just watch my progress as I wobbled forward, and suddenly I found the whole night so absurd it was all I could do not to burst out laughing. I jerked to a stop at that moment and stared at Stan and Isabel, blinking rapidly over my ill-fitted humor and wishing to high hell I could just wish off my shoes.

Stan chose that moment to stand and flash over in front of me in a blink, and I was so startled that I jumped, and only out of years of self control stopped myself from letting out a yelp. Eric was even faster flashing to my side, but he at least I had warning on through the blood bond. I could feel him scowling at Stan as he stood beside me, and looking across at our host I got a flash of a name that I knew I shouldn't have known. _Stanislaus Davidowitz._ I felt a nervous grin stretching my face, and I knew Eric could tell I was feeling the strain even harder than what was called for.

"I'm Stan Davis. Welcome to my city," he said in a most polished voice. I had the feeling it was the kind of voice he only brought out for the best china, and looking at the state of him, from his patent loafers, to his pressed khakis up to his stripped oxford shirt, I knew I was probably right. Even his plastic glasses with their false frames screamed "nerd," but I could tell it was a perfectly perfected disguise that he was throwing off just for me.

"Thank you," I said once I'd unswallowed my tongue. "Your hospitality has been most gracious so far."

I put a bit of emphasis on _so far_ so he'd know I wasn't too thrilled about his little flash-and-dash. He merely gave a closed lip grin that seemed strangely, boyishly charming.

"You're a most beautiful woman, Ms. Stackhouse. A shame Mr. Northman here has already claimed you."

My nerves were suddenly gone at the implication, and heat flushed my face.

"We've claimed each other," I claimed in full-fledged defiance. My temper was on the rise.

"A most permanent alliance that is?"

"You know perfectly well we're blood bonded," I smarted to him, crossing my hands over my middle.

"Oh there are ways..." he trailed off, an enigmatic smile on his pale lips.

I felt Eric stiffen beside me as I processed this tidbit of information for the flash second it took me to consider it. The fear I sensed rushing through him cut me to the quick, and I sent a wave of love rushing back to him, but I didn't waste time tearing my eyes away from Stan's enthralled and just plain rude mug.

"You sir," I stated quite plainly, "are rude. Not only are those ways irrelevant, but I am quite happily in love with my bonded. I have no intention of belonging to anyone else. Does that clear up your little inquiry?"

Stan studied me for a moment through his plastic glasses, as if searching for any chinks in my emotional facade, but he'd be finding none. There was no part of me that was absent of love for my Viking sheriff, my Eric Northman, and I opened myself up via the blood bond so that he could feel it as well. I felt his reverberating answering along the same lines, and felt the slight pressure of his fingers on mine to let me know I'd spoken well.

"It does indeed, Ms. Stackhouse," he said finally, and drifted back a fraction of a step.

"Now, if we can turn to more pressing matters, such as the man who was sent to kidnap me at the airport!"

It was Stan's turn to stiffen, and I took great pleasure in seeing it. His eyes flashed to the man behind us and back to Eric before he began to glow and pulse with increasing intensity, and I got the sense that he was somehow incensed at us for bringing the man to his nest! I was about to lose my temper further when a thought occurred to me. I squeezed Eric's fingers and gave him a look, then let go of his hand and stepped close enough to Stan to whisper in his ear.

"Is this where all your meetings take place?" I breathed.

The air held as both of us seemed to calm over my question.

He leaned in and whispered his reply in return.

"Yes."

"And how many of your nest were privy to my coming here?"

"Two. Isabel and Chavez."

My eyes flashed over his shoulder to Isabel then back down to the fine cotton of his shirt.

"And do you trust them?" I asked in an even more hushed tone.

"Implicitly."

That was all I needed to hear.

"Play along," I whispered back. "I think you've been bugged."

I felt Eric stiffen, and knew he had heard me as well. Time to step up the game.

"Eric," I said aloud. "You shouldn't have killed him. We needed him for information."

"He nearly broke your arm," Eric growled. "I lost my temper."

He gave me a quick wink, and I winked back. Then I stepped back, nodded as the two of them began their false bantering, and headed over to the table. I took a deep breath for my modesty, prayed my Gran and God would forgive me, and got down on hands and knees to search under the table.

Isabel, bless her, had started out looking confused, glancing between all three men, but it didn't take her long before she was following me over and moving chairs out of my way so I could crawl around easier. Then it didn't take but a few dusty minutes to find what I was looking for: a small, blinking electronic bit that stood out against the blond wood of the dining room table. I picked at it with my fingernail until it came loose and then wiggled my way out from under the table. Stan was waiting for me, along with Eric, and both of them seemed to have realized what was going on. Eric held out a hand to me, and I let him lift me up.

After I rose to my feet, I mimicked drinking and Stan flashed his eyes to Isabel. She flashed out of the room and came back in the room with a glass of water and headed over to me, but I held up one finger, and played the fainting female.

"All this has been a bit much for me. I sure am thirsty," I said, staring right at Stan, willing him to understand.

"Go get Miss Stackhouse a glass of water, Isabel," Stan said, playing along.

"I'll be right back," she said.

I waited a few moments before I set the glass of water down on the table, making a thump sound.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to spill it!"

Then I dropped the bug right into the glass of water and looked Stan dead in the eye.

"You've got a serious problem, and it's not just Farrell missing. I'm pretty sure the Fellowship of the Sun has him, from what we got off Archer in the hanger-"

"-Archer being?"

"The man who tried to kidnap me," I waved vaguely at the man standing behind us, "But besides that, I'm pretty sure they're after you in general, if the bug is any indication."

Stan was looking more than a little scary around the edges, and his skin was glowing furiously, nearly neon with light. Both he, Isabel and Eric stood staring at Archer a moment, the three of them looking sharp around the edges, and I was suddenly glad that I stood several paces back by the table and away from their attention.

I turned to my side and glanced at Eric, who glanced at me before turning back to call Archer forward.

"Archer, come here. This is Stan Davis. You will answer his questions. Do you understand?"

"I understand," he said dully.

I was starting to get very wary of dully, and a little concerned on seeing Stan's reaction to Archer that he might never see the light of day again. Then again, the man had tried to kidnap me. And, as I discovered as Stan began questioning him, had been paid to torture me for information about the Dallas nest, as well as any other information I had on other vampires, including Area Five! He didn't seem to know much more than that, however. He'd contracted the job through a wire-for-hire company, and it was his first gig working against vampires.

I was pretty sure it would be his last.

"We should keep him alive," Eric said (very) reluctantly after a few seconds of scary silence. "In case the Fellowship of the Sun decides to send any police searching for the erstwhile Mr. Archer here."

"I think it's highly unlikely," Stan said, though he looked like he was about to suggest a very different scenario, "But you are of course right, Eric, and it was your blood bonded that was nearly affronted. They might send police, just to keep us distracted from what's really going on with Farrell."

Stan turned to me then, and I was relieved to see that he was of a more pleasant demeanor.

"I realize the hour is late, Ms. Stackhouse, but time seems to be of an essence. Are you up to interviewing our other witnesses tonight?"

It was at that moment that I heard a bit of a bustle coming from the kitchen, and then the soft sound of Hadley's voice coming through. At just that moment, I thought I might be up for just about anything if I had her and Eric by my side.

"Alrighty," I said as I watched my cousin come in from the kitchen with a young woman by her side. Hadley's brown eyes were soft for me, and her long brunette hair was bouncing in gentle waves around her glowing face. She looked like home, and I suddenly felt more at peace then I had since I had stepped on the plane. Whatever else might happen, I knew Hadley would see it through with me, just as Eric would be there to defend me.

"Night's not gettin' any younger, is it?"

* * *

A/N: So, so, so sorry this took so long to post. My muse got a little weary. It's easier, sometimes, writing original material, than rewriting scenes my own way. Because, in the way of rewriting the SSNs, certain things must go in for plot purposes. I am of course taking fabulous liberties, and as the book goes on will have my wicked, wicked way in so many ways with the material, but on those chapters where it must go down as it must go down, I get a little stuck. That is not to say I will abandon this story. I just may be a bit longer on chapters than I, and I'm sure you, would like. And for that I am deeply sorry. But I am dedicating tomorrow to writing, so hopefully we will all be getting more very, very soon.

Thank you to all my new subscribers, btw! Glad you joined me! And to everyone that is supporting this story after coming over from Second Chances, I can't thank you enough! I loved that story very dearly, and I never thought I would ever be able to top it, so I just gave up... But here's me trying! Hope you all like it, because I really am giving it my all!

Much love,

Laura


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